TAMPA - The University of South Florida track and field team will open its 2010-11 indoor season on Friday, Dec. 3 in Carbondale, Ill. The women's team will compete in the Saluki Fast Start Track and Field Meet at the SIU Recreational Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University.
The 23-team meet will kickoff at 11:30 a.m. with the field events, followed by a 4 p.m. start time for the running events. USF's women will face 12 teams from all levels of competition as they face six Division I institutions, four Division II and two premier track clubs, while nine men's groups square off.
Along with USF, Austin Peay, Belmont, Louisville, Murray State, Southern Illinois and Tennessee Tech make up the Division I field, while Lincoln (Mo.), Lindenwood, Maryville and Missouri University of Science and Technology round out the Division II field with USF competing against all 10 teams.
Also competing in Friday's action will be National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)-member Missouri Baptist, along with the Tennessee Elite, Memphis Elite and Speedway track clubs. Missouri Baptist and Memphis Elite will compete in just the men's events.
The meet starts with the pole vault at 11:30 a.m., where Stephanie Duffy, Nicole Smith and Dana Webb will make their 2010-11 season debuts. Seniors Duffy and Webb look to jump-start their senior campaigns on the winning track, adding to their already successful three-year careers.
Following the pole vault, USF will see junior Lauren Noe compete in the weight throw. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, native is coming off her first NCAA appearance in the hammer throw. She ranks among the top 10 all-time in USF history in the hammer throw, discus and indoor weight throw.
The majority of the Bulls will take part in the jumps as USF will be represented by a total of eight student-athletes in three events. Making their 2010-11 debuts in the long jump will be MaShonda Rayner, the lone senior of the group, Miriam Skipper, Samantha Specht, Marqueshia Stallworth, Tralanda Todd and Monique Williams. Specht and Stallworth will both make their collegiate debuts on Friday.
With no one participating in the shot put, the Bulls will get a quick break before they take their marks for the triple jump. Rayner, Specht, Stallworth, Todd and Williams will take to the jumping pit once again with each of them looking to come away with a successful outing.
Closing out the field events will be junior Alex Rosenberger and sophomore Courtney Anderson in the high jump. Rosenberger looks to trump her personal best of 5-2.25, while Anderson looks to beat her personal best of 5-7, which she obtained as a true freshman for the Bulls last season.
The running events, which kickoff at 4 p.m., will start with the 60-meter semis, in which USF will be represented by the speed and quickness of Dariel Jackson, Shambrey Oliver, Rayner, Skipper, Todd and Williams. Jackson, a sophomore, anchors the sprinters with an indoor personal best of 7.69 in the 60.
Rounding out the sprints will be Jackson, Oliver, Skipper, Specht and freshman Christine Poole-Trice in the 200 meters. Poole-Trice will be the lone Bull to compete in the 400 meters, making her collegiate debut in both events, while Jackson, once again, anchors the 200, with an indoor best of 25.10.
USF will conclude the Saluki Fast Start Track and Field Meet with the 4X400-meter relay, which will be comprised of the team of Jackson, Oliver, Poole-Trice and Specht as they compete for the first time as a relay team with each of them making their 2010-11 relay debut.
Following Friday's meet, the Bulls will take a break from competition due to final exams and the winter holidays. They will return to action on Jan. 14 when they travel to Grand Rapids, Mich., to face off with Grand Valley State in the men's first indoor meet of the season and the women's second.
